OPTIONS BACKDATING
Many public companies are being scrutinized by the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice and shareholders for their roles in using immediately lucrative stock options to hide the true compensation paid to their officers, directors and employees.  These options, when granted, were not "at fair market value," as represented to investors. Instead, insiders are alleged to have intentionally backdated options to coincide with low points in their company's stock price so that the options were more valuable when they were granted.  Yet, they failed to account for this as a compensation expense, making the overall profitability of their companies look better than it actually was. Labaton Sucharow is currently prosecuting numerous claims arising from this improper conduct on behalf of institutional investors throughout the country.